The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Coastal Management Division will hold training sessions on how to use the agency’s new automated permit processing system during the months of November and December.  Coastal officials had been working many months toward this concluding step in streamlining the Coastal Use Permit (CUP) process in the state.

The new computerized system will allow an applicant or permitting agent to file an application and submit revisions on-line; track an application’s progress in real-time, throughout the entire permit process; and receive expedited authorizations. The system will be available for the public to utilize starting November 1, 2005. 

Coastal managers, along with the department’s information technology specialists will begin training exercises for all interested participants on November 22, 2005, at the DNR (LaSalle Office Building), 614 N. Third Street in Baton Rouge, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 22nd and 29th.  Sessions will also be held each Tuesday in December.  Training sessions will cover the following exchange of information:

• How to log on to, and register, as a user of the system
• How to complete and submit an application with attached plats
• How to submit revisions and supplemental documentation (LTMS, mitigation plat, etc)
• How to view comments made regarding an application
• How to track the progress of an application
• How to access information about an application that was submitted by another user
• How to use the SONRIS GIS database to pre-determine potential sensitive features around a project site

Reservations are encouraged since seating is limited. Please contact Christine Charrier, DNR Coastal Management Division, at christine.charrier@la.gov or (225) 342-7953 to attend.